H2o: Season Four
by WannabeeAussie
Summary: Set in Cairns, Australia, this story follows the four mermaids at University! Each chapter is from a different point of view. Will the girls stay friends, and keep their powers a secret? Will they find new boyfriends, or stay with the old?
1. Chapter 1

**AN This story is set at University in Cairns, Australia, about four months after season three ended. This story is also published on Wattpad! Please read and review! Lots of romance and drama to come :)**

Cleo Sertori hauled the last of her bags into her tiny dorm room and looked around. She wasn't sure who her roommate was, but she appeared to be very bohemian. There were paintings already hung up on that side of the wall, and a lacy blanket was on the bed.

Cleo sighed, wishing that she could've been roomies with one of her best friends. After a long, fun summer, they were inseparable. Her, Bella Hartley, and Rikki Chadwick, that was. She would be reuniting with her other best friend, Emma Gilbert, later on.

All four girls had been accepted at the University of Cairns, a big college in northern Australia. It was close enough to the Gold Coast but she still had a lot of freedom. And a lot of unpacking to do.

Cleo started with the closet, and was irritated to find that more than half of the rack was filled with flowy shirts, long skirts and other clothes in soft neutrals. She packed in as many of her own clothes as she could, until she was worried the rack might break with the weight of the combined wardrobes.

She unpacked the rest of her things onto her new bed. It was much smaller than her one at home, so the purple bedspread fell off on one side. Still, it made the whole dorm feel more like home. Unfortunately, Cleo's beloved pet fish had to stay at home. But she set a tiny little tank on her desk, hoping to buy a new fish soon.

Looking at her watch, she realized it was almost noon. Time to meet the girls. Cleo wrote a short, friendly note to her roommate explaining where she would be and headed for the café just off campus.

It was desperately hot outside. Cairns was even hotter than her old town. Even in a loose purple top and shorts she was sweating. Her hair was up in a messy bun.

Even though she was a ways from home, Cleo expected to recognize _someone_ on campus. There weren't many universities to choose from in Australia. She knew Zane Bennett would also be attending this university, but didn't exactly want to meet up with him. Rikki and Zane had broken up at the end of last year and still hadn't got back together. Rikki always went out of her way to avoid him, but now he'd followed her to college.

Cleo sighed and entered the café. She wished her boyfriend, Lewis McCartney, had followed _her _to college. He would be returning to Australia in about a month and she couldn't wait to finally see him in person again.

While waiting for the other girls to arrive, she thought of her other classmates. Will Benjamin, Bella's boyfriend, had gotten a scholarship to dive competitively and was attending uni in Sydney. Bella missed him a lot. She had no idea where Miriam, Tiffany, Sophie, Byron, or her other classmates were going. Last she'd heard, Miriam had gotten fired from a clothing store in her old town.

"Cleo!" She heard a familiar voice call. Emma was standing just two meters away. Cleo leapt to her feet and hugged her tightly. "I haven't talked to you in ages…I lost my phone in Miami and never transferred over my cell information. How are you?"

She grinned and stepped back. "I'm great. And you look…great!" she said, too much excitement to think of other adjectives. Emma really did look great. Her dirty blonde hair had natural highlights in it from the sun. She was tanner than usual, and maybe even fitter. But, typical Emma, her clothes were the same. She wore a fitted light blue polo, white short-shorts and light brown sandals. Cleo was touched to see her still wearing her locket, and fingered her new crystal necklace self-consciously.

"Where's Rikki?" she asked, looking around.

"Right here." Rikki and Bella seemed to appear out of nowhere.

Cleo hadn't seen them in a few weeks, either. Rikki looked happy but wary. She had bags under her eyes and Cleo knew she was probably still upset about what had happened last year. Her clothes seemed to reflect her feelings, as she was wearing mostly black. A black and white silk shirt, tucked into high waisted black shorts and the crystal necklace.

Bella, however, looked very excited to be on campus. She was dressed colorfully, in a blue and green patterned dress that showed off her tanned legs.

They all took a seat, with Cleo and Emma on one side and Rikki and Bella on the other. Emma was eying Bella warily. Cleo realized Emma didn't know anything about Bella, not even that she was a mermaid, too.

She was surprised at how awkward this meeting was. No one was laughing. No one was even smiling. She slumped in her seat. This was not how she'd planned her first day at university.

**AN: Not the most dramatic chapter, but there is plenty of action to come. If you have any thoughts at all please leave them in a review. I would love to hear any criticisms, suggestions, or compliments you may have! :) xx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two is a bit short. I don't want to cram too much information in just a few chapters. Enjoy! xx**

Emma Gilbert shook out her long blonde hair and eyed up her old friends, and the stranger they'd brought with them. Perhaps she was Rikki or Cleo's roommate? But why was she here when Emma just wanted to catch up?

"Hey, I'm Bella." The new girl said. They shook hands. Emma vaguely remembered hearing about a girl named Bella, before she'd lost her phone in Miami. She'd never felt so out of touch in her life. She didn't even know if Cleo and Lewis were still together. Hopefully they'd clear things up soon. Emma hated to be left in the dark.

"So…you have a new guy yet?" Rikki asked her playfully. Emma shook her head.

"There was one guy I flirted with in Barcelona…and another in Fiji. But no boyfriend since Ash and I broke up. I actually just got back from Fiji, it was so beautiful. Swimming was difficult, of course…" she said, giving Rikki and Cleo a meaningful look. "But I had a blast."

She was just about to tell them about the underwater caves she'd found when Cleo interrupted her.

"Bella, where's Will? Do you know how he's doing?" she asked.

"He's doing really well, I think he's learning a lot. He reached nearly 80 meters the other day." Bella said.

"Who's Will?" Emma asked, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

"Bella's boyfriend." Rikki explained quickly before Bella continued talking about him.

Emma tuned her out and quickly analyzed Bella. In more than a year she hadn't competed with anyone. She'd been homeschooled and hadn't been in any sports. It was almost a relief to have a little competition.

The first things Emma noticed were blue crystal necklaces each girl wore around their necks. They looked a bit like sapphires, but seemed more special than that. With her silver locket, she felt even more left out.

Rikki seemed to notice her disappointed expression (funny, Cleo was usually the first to pick up on those things, as Rikki usually caused them).

"Why don't we go for a swim." Rikki suggested. "I'm sure the coral reefs in Cairns are just as pretty as the ones at home. Or in Fiji." She nudged Emma and smiled.

Cleo and Bella nodded.

"Wait…are you sure that's a good idea?" Emma asked. Were they just forgetting about a certain fishy secret? She didn't want some stranger to know her deepest secret.

"It's okay, Em. Bella's one, too." Cleo said quietly. Emma's mouth dropped open and Bella shrugged sheepishly.

"It's a long story." She said.

"Sounds like it." Emma replied. At this point she didn't care if she sounded snobby.

"Race you to the dock." Rikki whispered.

"Go!" Emma yelled, laughing and getting a head start.

Finally it was back to old times.

**So Emma has a little competition...how do you think Bella's feeling about a new mermaid? Her chapter is up next. Thanks to everyone who has followed, reviewed, favorited, etc.! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three, let's see how Bella's doing :) Enjoy and review!**

Bella Hartley leapt off of the dock and hit the cool ocean water with a sigh of relief. The meeting at the café was just plain awkward. It was lovely to be back in the ocean after she'd spent a few weeks landlocked in Alice Springs.

At the end of the summer, she had said her goodbyes to Cleo and Rikki and spent a month travelling through the outback with her family. She'd missed her friends, the ocean, and Will so much by the end that she'd come back a few days early just to see them. Now she was at uni with her best friends, she had the best boyfriend, and life was great.

Bella could see Rikki and the other mermaid, Emma, several meters in front of her. She'd heard a lot about Emma and was excited to get to know her. She seemed a bit cold, though. Fitting that her power was freezing things.

She slowed down and let Cleo pass her, too. The reef around Cairns was extraordinary. There were so many colors—fish, coral, plants, and the mermaids. It was strange, almost unnatural, to have four mermaids instead of three. Everything felt a bit uneven.

Bella got lost in her own world, and then became literally lost. This part of the reef looked just like the others. Where were the other girls? Where was shore? She had no idea.

She didn't worry about it. At some point she would just turn around until she reached land. But for now there were so many interesting things to look at.

Bella followed a few fish into a darker part of the reef. The coral seemed to form a cave opening, with a sandy bottom and sharp coral sticking out of the sides.

She swam along the cave, staying away from the pointy pink coral. It sloped upwards and continued for several minutes. She was just starting to wonder if she should turn around when the coral cave widened and revealed a bigger area made of stone.

Well, mostly stone. There was coral everywhere. But that wasn't the shocking part—blue crystals covered the bottom and sides of this pool. Not just any crystals—crystals from the Moonpool.

Bella looked around her more closely. It appeared that she was in a lagoon on some sort of island. The half sand, half moon crystal pool was almost completely circular and was in the middle of a sandy beach. Except beaches weren't supposed to occur in the middle of an island.

Bella turned around and swam quickly back through the crystal cave. There was no doubt about it. This place was magical.

She found the other girls and led them back to the magic lagoon.

"It's so…big." Cleo said in awe. "Was the moonpool you were turned in this big, Bella?"

"No." Bella replied. "It was the size of the Mako Island pool, or even smaller."

"I wouldn't let Zane know about this." Rikki said bitterly, grasping a handful of sand and crystals. "He'd destroy this place in days."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"Long story." Rikki murmured, examining three different crystals.

"I could make you a necklace like ours, if you want." Bella offered Emma in an effort to be nice.

Emma glared at her. "No thanks." She said coldly. Bella flinched. She was just trying to include her more. She knew how it felt to be the odd one out.

"It's getting late." Rikki commented as the sun started to set. "We should go."

"Can we meet back here later? Maybe at the next full moon?" Bella asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Cleo said before swimming back into the tunnel of coral. The others followed, but Bella hung back for just a moment. She gave the lagoon one last look before swimming away.


	4. Chapter 4

**It's a shorter chapter but I hope you all enjoy it :) Let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions, whatever. I have written many chapters in advance but if you have an idea I think would fit into this story I can add it in later! Thanks for reviewing, following, favoriting, and reading, it means a lot xx**

Rikki Chadwick quickly steam-dried herself until her orange scales turned into skin. She didn't stick around to help the others dry off. She wanted to be alone.

For whatever reason, she felt best when she was alone but also in a crowd. The Cairns campus café was the best place to do that, because Rikki didn't know anyone at uni so far. Except her roommate, Tasha, who she had nothing in common with. And of course, the friends she was leaving on the beach.

She sat alone at a table for two and ordered a coffee, vaguely listening to the people around her. A group of annoying girls gossiped about someone Rikki didn't know. Two guys made a bet on a footy game.

Then she heard it; a very, very familiar voice saying, "I can't hang out tomorrow, I've got plans."

Rikki turned around slowly. She couldn't believe it. Zane Bennett was here.

Zane was taking to a girl she'd never seen before. She was blonde, tan, and pretty. Rikki felt a sudden pang of jealousy but kept watching them.

Zane put his hand on her shoulder, said something to her, and kissed her on the cheek. He turned away and locked eyes with Rikki. Rikki looked quickly down at her coffee.

She heard his footsteps until Zane sat down across from her. He looked starstruck, like he'd never expected to see her again.

"Rikki….hey." he said.

"Go away." Rikki told him fiercely. He didn't budge.

"I just want to talk." Zane pleaded firmly.

"I don't want to listen." She shot back at him. Why did Zane always make her a complete mess of feelings? She was hurt, angry, and sad all at the same time, yet still very attracted to him. "So if you want to talk to someone, go find that girl you were just with. Or anyone else but me."

"I can't stop thinking about you, Rikki." Zane said earnestly. He sounded truthful. "I tried going out with other girls, like the one I was just with…but truth is none of them are like you."

"You hurt me so badly." She admitted, biting her lip to keep from crying. She found a bit of inner strength. Rikki would never, ever cry in front of someone without trying to control it.

She stood up angrily. "You're a jerk, Zane. You're toxic. You act sweet sometimes but then treat me horribly…and I keep falling for it. Not this time. Stay away from me."

Wiping her eyes a little, she stormed away. Her emotions were so out of control, she was going to expl—

With a flash of sparks, every light bulb in the café exploded. Rikki looked with horror at the scene, but no one was hurt. Zane's eyes met hers again. She glared at him accusatorily, as if to say "you see what you made me do?" Not only were her feelings out of control, so were her powers.

She ran out of the café and bumped into someone. In the dim light from the sunset she recognized the curvy redhead. It was Charlotte Watsford.

Charlotte gaped at her. "Rikki? Is that you?"

Rikki could not deal with this right now. She ignored Charlotte and brushed past her, running to the dorms.

Not only did she have friend drama and her ex-boyfriend to deal with, her old enemy had also returned.


	5. Chapter 5

**So Charlotte is back! What do you guys think about that? I know the whole Charlotte returning thing happens in a lot of stories but I promise this will be different. Thanks for reading xx**

"Bye, Lewis. I love you." Cleo said, ending a late-night call with her boyfriend. Barely a second after she clicked 'end', her phone started ringing again.

"Hello?" she said, half-expecting it to be Lewis.

"Cleo?" It was Rikki. "We have a problem."

"Where did you get to after the swim? We all dried off and looked for you, but you were gone." Cleo told her.

"Sorry, I just wanted to be alone for a while…but, Cleo, I think we have a problem." She said, sounding stressed.

Cleo frowned. "What is it?"

"I went to the café and on my way out, I bumped into Charlotte." She sighed. "I left without talking to her."

"Charlotte? As in, boyfriend-stealing-psycho Charlotte?" Cleo exclaimed. "Rikki, this is a _huge_ problem! She knows about us, what if she tries to tell someone?"

"Do we know any other Charlottes?" Rikki asked irritably. "And if she tries…then we'll stop her. Don't worry about it."

"We need to talk about it, in person. I'll get Bella and you call Emma. We'll meet in my dorm around 6:30, okay? Number 307."

"Kay." Rikki said and hung up. Cleo took a huge breath. Rikki had said not to worry, but how could she not? Charlotte was her worst enemy.

Cleo quickly called Bella, and the three girls were at her dorm in a matter of minutes. Her roommate still hadn't shown up, so Cleo and Emma sat on Cleo's bed and Rikki and Bella sat on her roommate's empty one.

"So what's the big deal? Who's Charlotte?" Bella asked immediately.

"She was a new girl in our Junior year." Cleo explained. "She started dating Lewis when we broke up, and she found the Moonpool. She turned into a mermaid and had all of our powers, all three of them."

Bella gaped. "She doesn't still have them, does she?"

Rikki jumped in. "No. There was a special full moon that would take away a mermaid's powers. Charlotte planned to get us in the Moonpool then, but we fought her and she fell in, instead."

"But she still knows about mermaids. So she's dangerous." Cleo finished the story.

"Well, what do we do about her?" Bella asked logically.

Cleo noticed that Emma wasn't contributing much to the argument. "Emma." She nudged. "You're the smart one. Do you have any ideas?"

Emma shrugged, looking slightly annoyed. What was up with her?

"If she tries anything," Rikki began. "I'll—ˮ

Rikki was interrupted by the creak of the door opening. Charlotte herself walked in. She didn't look menacing and angry, like Cleo expected. Instead she looked surprised.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked. She didn't sound angry or accusing. But she wasn't friendly, either.

Charlotte glanced at the door. "This is my room. Number 307. What are _you_ doing here?"

Cleo glanced uneasily at the rest of the girls. She cleared her throat. "I invited them. This is my room, too."

There was a long, awkward silence. Charlotte broke it.

"I don't mean to be rude, but could you get off my bed?" she asked Bella and Rikki. Bella sprang up immediately, but Rikki lazily raised herself up, eying Charlotte with contempt.

"You guys should go." Cleo told them quietly.

"See you, Cleo." Emma said, leaving immediately. Rikki and Bella waved and gave her sympathetic looks.

Bella turned before going out of the room. "I'm Bella, by the way. Nice to meet you." She said kindly to Charlotte.

"You too, I'm Charlotte." Charlotte replied, also sounding surprisingly nice. Bella left.

She turned and gave Cleo a tight smile. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah." Cleo said. "It sure has."

"Listen, I know we weren't exactly friends back in year eleven…but I'd like to change that. Or at least, not be enemies." Charlotte said apologetically.

"Um…" Cleo hesitated. "Agreed."

"Alright then." Charlotte grinned. "Nice to meet you, I'm Charlotte Watsford."

"Cleo Sertori." She answered, going along with Charlottes 'starting over' plan.

Even though it was still light out, Charlotte turned off the lights and got under the covers. Cleo realized what a long day it had been. She was tired, too.

"Goodnight." She said in an effort to be friendly.

"Night." Charlotte replied softly.

She settled down and shut her eyes. Despite Charlotte's friendly act, Cleo was worried it was just that—an act. Cleo hoped she wasn't still burning for revenge, because if she was, Cleo didn't know if she could take on Charlotte a second time and win.


	6. Chapter 6

It was only the second day at university and Emma already felt homesick. The problem was, she didn't have a home anymore. So she wasn't sure what she was missing.

Her family had sold their old house before they went travelling, so she couldn't possibly go back their. Her parents and brother were now living in Townsville, which was unfamiliar and nothing like home.

Emma suddenly realized what—or who—she was missing. Ash.

She and Ash had tried to make a long distance relationship work, but it only lasted a few months before they broke up. They kept in touch, but not as boyfriend and girlfriend. He was the only guy she really trusted. And she desperately needed someone to talk to.

Emma didn't own a car, and a bus or taxi would take a lot of time and money. She wanted to see Ash _now_. Spontaneously, she got dressed quickly in a loose white dress and jogged down to the water. She knew it was more than 100 miles to her old town on the Gold Coast. Good thing mermaids could swim more than 100 miles per hour.

It took a very long time, but eventually Emma could see the old JuiceNet Café building from her spot in the water. She swam for exactly forty-nine minutes, at a speed not even the fastest boats could match, and wasn't tired at all. She continued a mile or two down the coast to the horse stables, where Ash spent his mornings and afternoons working.

Luckily, a horse blanket had been left near shore. Emma pulled herself behind a fallen log and dried off with it. She straightened her dress and hair before finding Ash.

She found him in one of the stables, brushing a young colt. Emma knocked shyly on the edge of the stable.

Ash looked up to see her, and his mouth spread into a broad smile. Her answering smile was just as wide.

"Emma! You're back!" he exclaimed, brushing his dark hair and looking surprised. He was tan after a long summer of working outdoors, and his hair was a bit longer than she'd last seen it. He looked good. Really good.

Ash left the colt's side and hugged her tightly. "How are you? How's uni?"

Emma remembered her first day and sighed. Should she tell Ash the truth, that she felt out of place? Or just pretend that everything was fine?

She didn't need to tell him anything; Ash could read it in her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked gently. "You don't like Cairns?"

Emma shook her head, feeling like she was about to cry. "It's really nice, I have a single dorm and all my friends are there…"

"Then what's bothering you?" Ash rubbed her back up and down, sending tingles all throughout Emma's body.

"It's my friends." She finally explained. "They have this new friend, and she's also a mermaid. They don't seem to care that I've been gone, they keep leaving me out and they don't explain what happened while I was away!"

"A new mermaid?" he asked.

"Long story." Emma said. "When we're all in a group talking, it seems like Cleo, Rikki, and Bella—the new girl—only talk to each other. They don't even look at me, it's like I'm not there. And whenever they do talk to me, it feels forced. I don't even know them anymore."

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she wiped them away impatiently. Ash hugged her again, and a few more tears came out.

"I'm also so worried about starting school again. Everything was very relaxed while we were travelling, that's going to take adjustments. And to top it all off, there's a full moon tonight." Emma complained. It felt good to get it all off her chest.

"I'm sure it will be fine." Ash said quietly. He didn't have to say much to comfort her.

"Enough about me." Emma said, pulling away from him. "How are you?"

Ash shrugged. "I'm good.

"No, really, I want to know what you've been up to while I was gone." She said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

"I've mostly been working, here or at the JuiceNet. Did you hear what happened to it?"

"I know Zane Bennett bought it and renamed it, but I don't know what's up there now." Emma said.

"Wilfred won the lottery! Half a million dollars, and he bought a chain of cafés along the Gold Coast. They're all pretty successful, and I'm managing the one here." Ash sounded proud. Emma was really happy for both Wilfred and Ash.

"Maybe in the summer I could come back and work there again." She suggested. "As long as the banana beat-box is still on the menu." She teased.

"Actually…" Ash said awkwardly. "All the drinks have been renamed."

Emma tried not to look disappointed. She hated change.

"I renamed it 'Emma's delight'." Ash told her. Emma smiled and hugged him. Now that she was here, everything was alright. She didn't have to worry about her friends, school, or the full moon. Everything would fall into place soon enough, with Ash by her side.

**Do you guys like Emma and Ash as a couple? They aren't my favorite, but I like them. As always, thank you for reading and please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry about another short chapter, I like to write in a novel format, where not every chapter is jam-packed with action and drama. I've written several chapters ahead and there are exciting things to come! Thanks for reading, leave a review if you wish x**

"Where's Emma?" Bella asked, looking around their table at the café. Funny, they'd only been at university for a few days and they already had a table considered theirs.

"I texted her…maybe she slept in late." Cleo said, checking her phone for messages.

Rikki laughed. "Emma? Sleeping in? She probably got up at 6 am and went to the library to study."

"But classes haven't started yet." Bella pointed out, confused. Was this an inside joke or something? Bella didn't like to feel left out.

"Emma's an overachiever times ten." Cleo explained.

"Oh." Bella said, feeling stupid.

Bella went to get drinks while they waited for Emma. A coconut water for Rikki, a strawberry smoothie for Cleo, and fresh orange juice for herself. She didn't know what Emma liked so she didn't order anything for her. When she got there she could order something.

After another round of drinks, the girls were tired of waiting.

"Let's just talk about it." Cleo said.

"Yeah, what are we going to do about Charlotte?" Rikki asked.

Cleo was about to say something, but Bella really had to interrupt her. "Charlotte seemed nice…why is she such a problem?"

Rikki rolled her eyes and exchanged a glance with Cleo.

"Just because Charlottes powers got taken away doesn't mean her memory was erased. She still knows that we are mermaids, and she's probably angry that we got to keep our powers." Rikki explained.

"Or maybe she wants a clean start. Maybe she's sorry about what she did and wants to apologize to you guys." Bella suggested, always looking for the better part of people. "At least hear her out."

"I guess we could do that." Cleo said grudgingly. "But she's not going anywhere near us tonight. It's the full moon."

"You know it doesn't affect us anymore." Rikki scoffed. "As long as there are no more water tentacles, we're safe."

"I don't know…you never know how the moon lagoon will affect us. We could get moonstruck, or there could be…water octopuses!"

Bella and Rikki laughed at Cleo's worries. Cleo glared at them but started laughing, too.

Bella eventually spoke confidently. "Unless there are water octopuses, I don't think we have anything to worry about."


	8. Chapters 8 and 9

**Chapters 8 and 9 together, their both a little short. Thanks so much for reviewing! I appreciate it a lot. All these chapters are leading up to something BIG xx**

Rikki laughed along with Bella and Cleo, just starting to feel normal again. For the longest time she was upset about the moonpool and Zane's betrayal, and now she might be getting over it at last.

Then she looked up. Zane was walking in with yet another girl, this one a tall brunette. She stiffened. Maybe she wasn't over it yet.

Zane looked over and saw her. Rikki wanted him to walk over to her, but also dreaded it. She didn't like drama, and certainly not in a public place.

"Can we get out of here?" she said quietly to Bella and Rikki. She motioned with her head to Zane, still standing in the doorway with his new girl.

"Of course, let's check out the lagoon again." Bella suggested. Rikki didn't make eye contact with Zane as she walked out.

She sent a quick text to Emma telling her where they were going, and then dove in the ocean. Bella and Cleo followed her, but anger at Zane made her faster than them.

The pretty ocean colors calmed her down quickly, as they always did. It took a few minutes for Rikki to find the coral cave, but she swam down it with lightning speed when she did.

The lagoon was even more beautiful than last time. Tropical flowers had started to bloom in the jungle area surrounding the pool. Although the moon pool would always have a special place in her heart, the lagoon was an excellent substitute.

The girls settled on rocks near the waterfall, their tails in the water and a pleasant mist spraying their bodies. There were four big rocks, one for each girl (whenever Emma would arrive) and below those were smaller rocks. Some of them looked like quartz, and some of them were giant moon crystals. The crystals only ever made her think of Zane and the terrible thing he did to the old moonpool. She was actually thinking of wearing her locket instead of the crystal necklace because it held so many bad memories.

Cleo dipped her hair back into the waterfall. Bella did the same, but she leaned a little too enthusiastically. She fell all the way through. Rikki and Cleo laughed and helped her up.

"I think there's a cave back there." Bella said curiously. "If we could get over these rocks we could check it out."

Rikki shivered at the thought. At first the lagoon felt peaceful, but now she was feeling uneasy. Like someone was watching her.

"It would be easier to get a human to do it. There is no way we could get over the rocks with our tails, even if we were dry to begin with. That is a mermaid-proof cave." Cleo said reasonably. "If Lewis were here, he would check it out."

"When will Lewis be here?" Rikki asked.

Cleo sighed sadly. "He's still got another month overseas. But then he'll be here with us."

"Have you told him about this place yet?" Bella questioned, still trying to peer behind the waterfall.

"Oh gosh, no! I should probably do that, shouldn't I?" she exclaimed.

Rikki and Bella stared at her with a 'duh' expression.

"Lewis will know what to do." Cleo said confidently. The three girls swam to the edge of the water to dry off, so Cleo could get her phone and video chat with Lewis. Maybe he would know more about the mysterious lagoon covered in moon crystals and magic.

**Chapter 9**

Cleo's tail disappeared as the last few drops of water were steam-dried off of her by Rikki. She immediately got her iPhone out of her pocket and started video chatting with Lewis. Even though it was very late where he was at, he answered.

"Cleo, hey!" he said, enthusiastic but tired.

"Hi, Lewis." Cleo answered. She put Rikki and Bella on the screen as well.

"Are you on the beach?" he asked, looking behind her.

"Kind of." Cleo took herself off the screen completely, showing Lewis the lagoon, the waterfall, and the island jungle.

The three girls sat down in the sand and Bella explained how she found the coral cave and the lagoon. Rikki dove back in the water to get crystal-filled sand.

"Interesting." Lewis commented. He was wide-awake now. "When I get back I'll need to do some water tests. And maybe a soil sample. I wish I was there tonight, so I could observe the full moon's effect on it."

"Well, we could do that." Cleo offered. "The moon doesn't really affect us anymore."

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that." Lewis said immediately. "It could be dangerous. I'll be back for the next full moon."

"And the one after that, and the one after that…" Cleo reminded him happily. Lewis grinned and they looked lovingly at each other. If only it wasn't through a screen. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. Every day." Lewis confessed. We were in our own little world.

Bella started giggling and Rikki cleared her throat. Cleo blushed slightly.

"Do you think there could've been other mermaids around here?" she asked the girls and Lewis.

"Where there's a moonpool, there's mermaids." Rikki said logically. Bella nodded in agreement.

"They're most likely not here anymore." Bella said. "Otherwise, they would've noticed us here and kicked us out of their place." Cleo nodded thoughtfully.

"Maybe there are some older ones, like Gracie, Mrs. Chatham and Julia." Lewis suggested. "Who knows, if there are older mermaids they might find you before you find them."

Cleo laughed and remembered meeting Mrs. Chatham for the first time. She had been so scared at first, but she was actually a wise and sweet old lady. She hoped they did meet more experienced mermaids. They still had a lot to learn.

Lewis yawned so loudly she could hear it on her end. Cleo felt guilty for keeping him up.

"Lewis, you can go to bed. We'll talk later, okay? Privately." I said that last part and looked over at Rikki and Bella.

"Sounds good. Love you." The screen went blank before Cleo could say 'I love you, too'.

"I still want to get into that cave…" Bella said. "Do you think if I hardened the waterfall I could get through without getting wet?"

Cleo looked at the water thoughtfully. "I could try using my power to move it. But you shouldn't go back there, not yet. At least get a torch." She urged.

"Maybe Cleo's right." Rikki piped up, for once arguing on the side of safety. "There could be pits and rocks, you could break an ankle or worse."

"Or spiders!" Cleo said, and got a creepy-crawly feeling just thinking about it.

Bella laughed. "Fine, you guys have convinced me. Want to look around the island?"

"Sure." Rikki agreed immediately. Cleo nodded. They got prepared to head off into the jungle.

There was a noise from behind them, and an orange and white figure slid into the lagoon from the coral cave. It was Emma.

"Meeting without me?" she asked. The question was lighthearted but Emma sounded hurt.

"Actually we were just going to go exploring." Bella said excitedly. Cleo had a feeling this was not what Emma wanted to hear.

"Okay then…maybe I'll just go…" Emma mumbled. She turned around gracefully (which was hard to pull off with a long tail and a small space).

"Wait, Emma!" Rikki yelled after her. But her head was already submerged. "We should go after her."

Cleo agreed. Something was wrong with Emma, it had been since they'd arrived on campus.

"Should I just…stay here then?" Bella asked. Now _she_ sounded hurt. Great.

Cleo was about to suggest that Bella come with them when Rikki answered.

"Yeah, probably." She said bluntly. Rikki dove into the water, speed-swimming after Emma. Cleo gave her a sad smile and stepped into the lagoon. Soon she, too, had joined the chase for Emma.

**Next chapter will be up in a few days! If you like it so far, review please! And if you don't, review and let me know why not ;)**


	9. Chapter 10

Tears filled Emma's eyes as she swam away from the other girls. Her talk with Ash had left her feeling emboldened, but when she saw Rikki and Cleo with Bella…her confidence fell apart. Why was she so insecure all of a sudden?

Emma glanced behind her shoulder quickly, a rush of water hitting her cheek. Two mermaids were swimming after her. Rikki was barely five meters away and gaining. She had gotten much faster since they'd last swam together, or perhaps Emma's emotions were making her slow. Cleo, as always, was far behind and dropping farther. If she could lose Rikki and be alone…

She swam randomly as fast as she could all around the Great Barrier. The ocean was a rush of colors. But Rikki stayed—literally—right on her tail. Couldn't Rikki see that she wanted to be left alone?

Eventually Emma found her way to shore and pulled herself under a dock. She could tell Rikki to get lost and go explore the island with Bella.

"Go away." She said angrily. Rikki probably had no idea why she was upset.

Rikki stubbornly swam up next to Emma. Cleo was nowhere to be seen.

"You have to tell me what's wrong." She said. "Otherwise, we can't fix it. Did something happen this morning? Or was it on your trip?"

Emma could be stubborn, as well. "As if you care."

"I do, you know that! Don't you know how much we've missed you?" Rikki exclaimed.

"You sure aren't acting like it." Emma said with tears in her eyes. None of this was coming out right. She sounded like a bratty toddler.

"What did we do wrong?" Rikki asked.

Emma took a deep breath to calm herself down. She wasn't going to cry. She was going to calmly explain how she'd been feeling since she got back.

"You guys never told me about Bella being a mermaid." She started. "That made me feel left out. Every time I started talking about my trip you or Cleo would interrupt, like you don't care what I've been doing. You don't even look at me, just at Cleo and Bella. It's as if I'm not even here. You all probably wish I was still gone!"

She took several more deep breaths to stop crying. Rikki shook out her long, wet hair.

"We didn't mean to…I didn't mean to." She apologized. Well, as close to an apology as Rikki would ever get. "Cleo and I missed you a lot, we just want you to fit in. I can't speak for her, and because she's not here I can't tell you how she's feeling but you really need to know…"

"Know what?" Emma asked.

"When you left, you didn't give me much warning. I had a week to even process the fact that you were leaving. And then you just stopped texting me, you didn't call or write….how was I supposed to tell you about Bella, or anything else that happened?"

"Oh. Right." Emma said, feeling dumb. She didn't think about how her departure had affected Rikki and Cleo. And she wasn't able to contact them after her phone broke. She couldn't even remember their numbers, as they'd been on speed-dial.

"Yeah, right." Rikki said. "And it wasn't easy at first with Bella. To be honest, I was not accepting of her. But I got to know her better and we became really good friends. I think that's what will happen with you and Bella, if you give it time."

Emma laughed and wiped her eyes. "When did you get so wise?"

Rikki laughed, too. They both stared out at the ocean.

"Come on." Rikki finally said, scooting awkwardly back into the water. "We should find Cleo and get back to the lagoon. It's getting dark."

Emma grabbed her arm. "One more thing…why didn't you guys invite me to explore with you?"

Rikki stared at her with big, condescending blue eyes. "Cleo and I texted you at least five times each to tell you where we were."

Emma sighed in relief. "Sorry, I never looked at my phone! I'm getting so paranoid."

"I can agree with that." Rikki laughed. "Let's go."

Both girls made their way back into the water and swam around until they found Cleo. Emma smiled as she looked at the girls beside her. Everything was back to normal.


	10. Chapter 11

**I hope you guys like this chapter, it's a pretty important one :) What happens here will affect the ENTIRE rest of the story. Enjoy and review xx**

Bella walked aimlessly around the lagoon, waiting for the girls to come back. She was dying to explore the cave behind the waterfall, and the rest of the island. The more they knew about this place, the better.

After about five minutes Bella grew impatient. She decided to explore, but stay in the lagoon region. The girls could yell for her when they got back.

She climbed up the rock near the waterfall, glad she had worn tennis shoes.

The waterfall was fed by a small stream. Bella wondered where it came from—it must have a freshwater source. Maybe if she followed the stream, she would find out. Along the way she looked for a land entrance into the cave. She hoped to bypass the waterfall completely. Not even Cleo could control that much water long enough for Bella to slip inside the cave.

The sun was nearly set when Bella found it—a bottomless freshwater spring that fed the stream. The pool was small, circular, and crystal-clear. It was hard to see, but Bella suspected the sides of the pool were covered in blue crystals. This truly was a crystal island.

Bella looked closer and took a step forward. The rocks were slippery, and one started to give way…

Bella woke up with a massive headache. She didn't know what time it was, and more importantly, she didn't know where she was.

She was laying on sand and rock, in some sort of cave. Above her, she could see a few stars. Did she just find the land entrance to the cave?

Forgetting her headache instantly, Bella leapt to her feet in excitement. She didn't know why, but this cave attracted her. There was something important about it.

In the dim starlight, she could see that the walls were glittering. The entire cave was made of crystal. She touched the jagged blue surface in awe.

Now Bella had a new problem. Surely the other girls had started to look for her. She had found her way into the cave, but now she needed to find the way out.

Bella noticed that the rocks and sand beneath her were damp. It wouldn't penetrate through her shoes, but she assumed this way led to the waterfall. Once she found the waterfall, she could dive through it and get to the lagoon.

Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking she found the waterfall. There were puddles to avoid, but those weren't what made her stop in her tracks. Bella heard voices, and they weren't Cleo, Emma, and Rikki.

"This is beautiful." She heard Sophie Benjamin say. Sophie?! What was she doing here, of all places?

"Just wait for the moon to rise all the way. Then it will be even prettier."

Bella recognized that voice, too. It was Charlotte, the girl Cleo, Emma and Rikki were so worried about. She slowly approached the waterfall so she could hear better.

"You promised me you were going to explain things." Sophie reminded Charlotte, sounding a mixture of amused and snotty.

"You're right, I will. It's a long story and we don't have much time, but I'll explain as much as I can." Charlotte said. "I moved to your old town in my year eleven. I met Cleo, Rikki, and a girl named Emma that you don't know yet. We didn't get along well."

"I can see why, those girls are total bitches." Sophie said. "And their new friend, too. Have you met Bella?"

"Yes, she actually seems nicer than the others, though." Charlotte replied, annoyed at being interrupted. "Anyway, I started dating Lewis so the girls hated me even more. Lewis wanted them to include me, but they never would. Cleo was very jealous of me."

Bella found herself intrigued by Charlotte's side of the story. She had heard about Charlotte from Cleo and Rikki, and it was interesting to hear how Charlotte felt about them.

"One night Lewis, Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and Cleo's family were all camping on Mako Island with me."

"Mako…" Sophie said softly. Bella could see Charlotte smile through the waterfall.

"Yes. I'm assuming you know about the cave underneath the volcano?" Sophie nodded. "I think that cave is similar to this lake."

"It's more of a pond than a lake." Sophie pointed out. "And it's definitely similar—see those blue rocks? There used to be lots of them in the Mako cave."

Charlotte and Sophie were quiet for a minute. Bella's mind was racing.

"Interesting…" Charlotte commented. "Well, on that camping trip I found the cave. The girls called it the "moon pool", because the moon passes right over the cone of the volcano. On a full moon, it gives you powers. Powers that you couldn't even imagine."

Sophie looked fascinated, her eyes glowing just like Charlotte's. They were both power-hungry.

"I had more power than them." Charlotte continued bitterly. "I wanted to be friends but they kept excluding me. They even tried to get rid of my powers. There was a very special full moon, where it passed over the moon pool and could take away the powers it gave. The girls—and Lewis—lured me to the cave and pushed me in."

Now Bella was confused. Charlotte couldn't possibly be telling the truth—Cleo and Rikki had said that it was the other way around, that _Charlotte_ tried to get rid of their powers, and that the plan had backfired on her.

"What does that have to do with me? Why are we out here?" Sophie asked. Bella was dying to know the answers, too.

"If the moon pool and this pond are similar, then I think it can give us powers, too. I can get mine back. Do you want the power, Sophie?" Charlotte asked in an enticing voice.

Bella saw Sophie nod slowly as the moon rose higher. The center of the lagoon started to bubble. Charlotte gasped.

"Now! Get in!" She grabbed Sophie's hand, and the two red heads approached the bubbles.

Bella knew she had to act fast. She dove through the waterfall, but hit the rocks on the other side. It was useless now. Sophie and Charlotte were already in the center. They looked momentarily surprised to see Bella appear from the waterfall. But they quickly forgot about her, as the golden bubbles rose up to the moon.


	11. Chapter 12

**Thanks a lot for so many reviews! :) Basically I already had a lot of this story posted on Wattpad, so that's why I update so frequently, because I already wrote all of this. I'm almost caught up with Wattpad so updates will be occurring less frequently after the next few chapters. **

**Regarding a few comments about Charlotte's role in this story...it won't be known until the end if Charlotte is the bad guy or if she actually has moved on from the past. But I promise you, this whole story will not be Charlotte and Sophie vs. everyone else. There will be a lot more drama in the girls' futures, boys, school, friends, etc! **

**Enjoy this chapter! Review if you would like, or if you have any suggestions. xx**

Rikki surfaced in the moonlight. Cleo and Emma's heads popped up just seconds after hers. Their swim had taken up a lot more time than expected. The girls swam all around the reef, playing hide and seek and just exploring the underwater world. By the time the girls thought to go back, they had to locate the coral cave. That took at least another half hour, and there were boats about. Well, just one boat. But they couldn't make a lot of movement when there was a risk of being seen.

"I found it." Cleo said. "This way."

She led them to the coral cave and they swam through it quickly. Rikki hoped Bella was still there. But it was very likely that she'd given up on waiting for them, and swam back to the dorms.

Instead, the lagoon showed a very strange sight. There were two girls in the water, and one mermaid.

"Bella!" Cleo gasped. "What happened?" she swam over to Bella, ignoring the other two girls. Rikki and Emma, however, focused on the two red-heads. Sophie and Charlotte.

"I went to explore and found a land entrance to the cave." Bella was almost crying. "I came back to the waterfall and the moon was already almost up. I tried to stop them, but…"

Bella actually started crying now. Rikki and Emma glared at Sophie and Charlotte, and swam over to comfort Bella.

"What happened?" Emma asked gently.

"Sophie and Charlotte got into the lagoon when the moon passed over. The water bubbled and everything. I tried to stop them but I dove through the waterfall and hit the rocks." Bella explained anxiously.

"You're bleeding!" Cleo said. Bella had a cut on her head, and a few on her stomach.

"I hit my head earlier…" she said, clasping a hand to the cut on her head. "

"What do we do about them?" Rikki asked, glaring at Sophie and Charlotte. They were starting to walk out of the lagoon, their clothes dripping.

"Charlotte might not have got powers." Emma suggested. "The moonpool took them away forever, remember? That other girl, though…she will probably have a tail tomorrow."

Rikki groaned. She hated Sophie _and_ Charlotte. There couldn't possibly be six mermaids.

"How did they get here anyway?" Bella asked. She had calmed down a great deal since they first found her.

Rikki had a realization. "That boat that we hid from while we were swimming. That was probably them. They must've followed us."

"You can stop whispering about us!" Charlotte yelled to them from across the lagoon. Sophie was staring at them wide-eyed. She looked like she didn't expect them to be mermaids.

"Go away, Charlotte." Rikki snapped at her. She turned back to her friends. "Let's meet up at the café tomorrow and talk about this."

The girls agreed and they swam away, Sophie and Charlotte still staring after them. Rikki wanted to stick her tongue out at Sophie, but didn't want to make her mad until she knew whether or not Sophie was a mermaid.

Back at the dorms, the girls split up. There were two different dorms for freshman, one for boys and one for girls. Each of her friends were on a different floor. Rikki was on the third. She had only been in her dorm room a few times since college started, just to sleep and unpack. She didn't like her roommate much.

Her name was Tessa. She was the definition of a spoiled Gold Coast girl, the type of girl she would expect Zane to date. Actually, Tessa reminded Rikki of Miriam Kent.

One half of the room was "pink and chic" as Tessa liked to put it. Then there was Rikki's half. She wasn't sure how, but her side was already a mess.

Rikki collapsed on her bed and tried not to stress herself out. Tomorrow they would test Sophie and Charlotte for powers, and there was a chance they wouldn't have any. But then they would have to deal with Sophie knowing about mermaids…

She took a deep breath and attempted to calm herself down. She would deal with these problems the way she always had, one at a time. They could move past this. They _had_ to move past this.

But if the next few months of college were like her first few days, Rikki wasn't sure she could.

**Next chapter should be up in a day or two :) **


	12. Chapter 13

**Cleo's chapter! Let's find out what Charlotte's been up to while she was away. :) Oh, and if you're ever feeling bad about yourself, at least you didn't slice your finger open while making snowcones. Yes, that happened to me today. Super embarrassing. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! Review, review, review xx**

"Cleo. Cleo, wake up." Someone said urgently, shaking Cleo on the shoulder.

"Wha…?" she asked, still half-asleep.

"Wake up, it worked!" Cleo opened her eyes to see Charlotte standing next to her bed. She had almost forgotten that they were roommates. Cleo got back from the lagoon last night and fell asleep before Charlotte returned.

"What worked?" she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

"The new Moon Pool!" Charlotte answered excitedly. "I tested it in the bath this morning!"

Cleo was out of bed in a flash. "Prove it."

Ten minutes later, Cleo was helping Charlotte dry off on their bathroom floor. It was lucky that each dorm room had its own bathroom, otherwise they risked exposure every time they wanted to get clean.

There were more important problems that Cleo should have been thinking of, instead of how lucky they were to have separate bathrooms. Namely, Charlotte's tail. And if Charlotte had a tail, Sophie did, too.

Cleo texted the others about the bad news. As much as she didn't want to, she had to explain things to Sophie and be nice to Charlotte.

Charlotte's legs appeared soon enough, and she hopped to her feet happily. Cleo frowned. She didn't swear much, but she sure felt like it now.

"Do you want to get some breakfast and catch up properly?" Charlotte asked her. Cleo nodded, but was unsure. At least in a big crowd of people Charlotte couldn't hurt her.

The breakfast hall at U of C was spacious and elegant. It was a huge difference from the cafeteria at her high school. There were many different options for tables, from two-seats to long, stretch tables. Windows covered one entire wall, offering a spectacular view of the ocean. And the smells…

Cleo got a bottle of coconut water, two pancakes in blueberry sauce, and a large piece of bacon. She needed to indulge after such a stressful night, so she also grabbed a chocolate chip muffin. She met Charlotte at a two-seating table next to the window.

Charlotte also had a large breakfast, Belgian waffles soaked in syrup, bacon, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. Perhaps she was celebrating a perfectly executed plan.

"So…" Charlotte began, sipping her juice. "How was senior year?"

Cleo wasn't sure how to answer, so she tried "friendly". "Uh…pretty good. A few mishaps here and there, but we made a new friend and I got my grades up."

"Bella's the new friend, I'm assuming?"

Cleo nodded. "How was Townsville?" she asked. She had heard that's where she moved after transferring schools.

"I was sad at first, because of Lewis and losing my powers, but time goes on. I made new friends, a new boyfriend, you know how it is." Charlotte replied nonchalantly.

"Are you still together?" Cleo asked between bites.

"No, we broke up before I came here. Neither of us were committed enough for a long distance relationship. How's your love life?"

Cleo tensed and waited a long time before answering. "Lewis is in America at the moment…he should be coming back soon."

She judged Charlotte's face to see her reaction. She didn't look particularly happy to learn Cleo and Lewis were still together, but she didn't seem angry, either. Maybe she really had moved on.

They chatted about a few other things like their majors, how they wanted to decorate their room, and senior year. Their breakfasts were over by the time Cleo got around to the important topic: last night.

"So how did you meet Sophie?" she asked cautiously. She didn't want to sound too accusative, not while Charlotte was being nice.

"She's on our floor, too. She came up to me after I ran into Rikki, and we got talking. She told me about a comet that was about to hit, and it _magically_ got destroyed. I knew you, Rikki and Emma were involved somehow. Then Sophie and I started talking about you guys—not the nicest things, I'm afraid." Charlotte said apologetically. "We saw you guys leaving into the water and Sophie thought it was the strangest thing, you all diving into the ocean fully clothed. Then your heads didn't pop up…"

Cleo finished her coconut water. Had they really been that reckless? Had other people seen them take off to the lagoon?

Charlotte continued. "I tried to keep her away, but I was afraid she would call the police and report four drownings. And by the way, four? You'll have to tell me more about Bella sometime. Anyway, Sophie found a boat and we tried following you guys. I was a little curious about where you would go, but of course we couldn't exactly follow you. We got a little lost, but found an island. Right in the center of it was that pond. Sophie told me she recognized the crystals from the moon pool and I knew it was special. It was a full moon, I wanted to see if I could get my powers back, and you know the rest." She finished with a smile.

"But Sophie doesn't know." Cleo replied. "She could be exposing her secret right now! We have to find her."

"Relax, Cleo. On the boat ride home last night I told her what would happen. After seeing you four, she believed me."

"Then we have to help her…there's so much she doesn't know." Cleo was getting angry now. "I think we should find her, and the other girls, and have a little training session."

"Okay." Charlotte agreed serenely. "Let's go."

Cleo and Charlotte walked out of the cafeteria together and Cleo realized just how strange it was about to be, working with Charlotte instead of against her.

**Do you trust Charlotte? And what power(s) do you think she has? The next chapter will be up soon, probably by the end of the weekend. Happy Friday! **


	13. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 already :) Thanks for reading!**

Emma knocked on Rikki's door so they could go to lunch together. Cleo had texted them all this morning because they needed to meet and discuss the new mermaids.

Rikki walked out, her blonde curls loose and pretty. Emma touched her stick-straight hair with a sigh. Her dark blonde tresses would never hold curls the way Rikki's did.

They walked down several flights of stairs and met Bella on the first floor. Emma smiled at her tensely. After her talk with Cleo and Rikki yesterday, she decided to make more of an effort to be friends with Bella. Bella greeted them both with a smile and a wave.

At the café, Cleo, Charlotte and Sophie were already waiting for them. Cleo looked uncomfortable between her two former enemies. Actually, Emma wasn't sure what Sophie's connection to her friends was. They knew each other from somewhere but Emma didn't know how. But anyone could sense the tension between Cleo, Rikki, Bella, and Sophie.

Emma sat down near Charlotte, but kept a careful amount of space between them. Rikki and Bella slid into the booth after her.

"So you're both mermaids?" Bella asked quietly to Sophie and Charlotte. Charlotte nodded, grinning, and Sophie said "yes" softly.

"Guys…I don't think we should talk about this here." Emma suggested. "We need to find out if they have powers and explain a few things to Sophie."

"I already told Sophie everything." Charlotte said. "But I would like to test out our powers. Who knows, maybe we have all of them."

Sophie and Charlotte exchanged pleased glances with each other. Rikki, Emma, and Cleo tensed. This could not turn out like last time Charlotte got all three powers. Which reminded Emma of something she had forgot to ask…

"Bella, do you have a power?" she asked the blonde to her left. "Or, powers?" she added, thinking of how Charlotte had been given all three.

"Yeah, I have one. Let's order drinks and I'll show you." Bella said.

Emma ordered a water (so they could showcase their powers), Cleo and Bella got strawberry-kiwi juices, Charlotte got a mango smoothie and Rikki and Sophie each ordered coffees.

Emma set her glass of water in the center of the table and propped up a menu so other tables couldn't see what they were about to do to it. She nodded at Cleo to go first.

Sophie's eyes widened as Cleo formed little bubbles out of the water. "My power is to move and shape it, and add extra water if I form larger things out of it. I can also control wind, but I won't demonstrate that here."

Emma stuck her hand out and the water froze. The little bubbles Cleo had made dropped back into the glass, frozen. "I can freeze things, and make it snow." She explained.

Rikki crunched up her hand slowly, melting Emma's ice and bringing the water to a boil. "My power is boiling things, making fires and making lightning."

Emma leaned forward in her seat. It was Bella's turn.

"I can turn water into jelly, or make it hard. Like plastic." She twisted her hand similar to the way Cleo did, but left it there. The water hardened.

"Cool." Emma commented. She wanted to touch the liquid, but was afraid it would make her grow a tail.

"Will I be able to do something like that?" Sophie asked excitedly.

"Probably." Emma answered. She kind of liked Sophie, better than she liked Charlotte anyway. She glanced over at her friends and could tell they didn't feel the same way. Rikki in particular was glaring at Sophie. Emma would have to find out exactly what had happened between them while she was travelling.

"We should go somewhere more private now." Bella said, reminding them of Emma's original plan. "We don't know what your powers will be…if they're crazy we wouldn't want us to get exposed.

Everyone finished their drinks and they headed out to the beach. Bella, Cleo, Emma and Rikki sat in the sand above Sophie and Charlotte, like they were teachers and the redheads were the students. Sophie and Charlotte were also close to the water so they could practice on it.

Charlotte started because she had already been a mermaid, and had experience with powers. She tried freezing, heating, shaping, and hardening it. None worked. Emma could see Charlotte getting frustrated as she tried out more and more hand positions.

Finally, she found one that worked. Her hand was in a position similar to Emma's freezing power, but her palm was pointed upwards.

They had all been watching the water, so they didn't think anything had happened. Rikki was the first to notice it.

"The seaweed!" she gasped. "Look at it—it's growing!"

Sure enough, a small, single piece of seaweed was growing at a miraculous rate. In just a few moments it was longer than Emma's arm.

Everyone was wide-eyed. Charlotte had a huge grin on her face. She made another tuft of seaweed grow, and some nearby algae.

"Try something else." Bella suggested. "See if your power works on land plants, and not just sea plants."

Charlotte did as she was told, and moved her hand to a few clumps of grass on the beach. They sprouted into flowers in an instant. Charlotte clapped twice in excitement.

"My turn." Sophie said, approaching the water. Like Charlotte before her, she tried out a dozen different hand positions before she found one that worked. She made a fist quickly and her hand affected a rock. It rose up into the air and Sophie made it fly around, finally dropping it into the water with a splash.

"Rocks! I can move rocks!" she screamed in excitement. She used both of her hands to lift up sand and make the little pebbles dance around in the air.

Emma caught eyes with Rikki and Cleo. Secretly, all three of them were glad they didn't have to share their powers, like the last time Charlotte was a mermaid.

All six girls were happy and excited about these new discoveries. Whatever doubts they had about their former enemies were pushed away as all the mermaids ran into the water and swam together for the first time.

**So...what do you think about Sophie and Charlotte's powers? Should the girls trust them or not? Leave a review if you have any comments or suggestions! xx**


	14. Chapter 15

**I'm sorry I haven't updated for a while! The restaurant I work at opened up again (It's a seasonal restaurant) so I'm working, going to school, hanging out with friends, AND trying to update frequently all at the same time. If you are reading my other story, The Stakes are High, that may not be updated for a few more days. It's going to be a busy few weeks for me until schools out. Anyway, here's a chapter from Bella's POV! As always, thanks for reading and leave a review xx**

Bella tapped her fingers anxiously on her desk, holding her iPhone to her ear.

"Bella? I was just about to call you, actually. What's up?" her boyfriend, Will Benjamin, answered.

"Nothing much, I just got back from a swim. Classes are going to start soon. How's diving?"

Will had gotten a prestigious scholarship to dive at the University of Sydney. They were going to try making a long distance relationship work, but already it was hard. She had no idea how Cleo and Lewis did it.

"It's great, we're learning some new breath-holding techniques and my coach is impressed with my mono fin." Will told her. "What's the ocean like up there?"

"It's beautiful." Bella gushed. "There are so many colors, fish I've never seen…and the _reef_. I found some really cool shells I think you might like."

Will told her a few more stories about his classes (which had started the week before) and complained about Sydney traffic. Bella shared her college life so far, only excluding the lagoon, Charlotte and Sophie. But she had to tell him about it. Sophie was his sister, after all.

"When you come up to visit I have to show you this place I found. We were swimming around the reef and I found this cave. It was lined with coral all the way through. It opens up into this lagoon…Will, the lagoon is just like the moon pool." She tried to explain the magical quality of it. "There are crystals everywhere, in the rocks, in the sand. And one end has a waterfall."

"Wow." Will said. "That's crazy. And it's like the moon pool, it can transform people?"

Bella knew she had to bring up the Sophie thing now. "Yes…"

"How do you know?" he asked.

"It kind of happened already." She blurted out.

"_What_?!" Will exclaimed.

Bella explained everything, about how the other girls had gone off and Bella went exploring. She came back and couldn't stop Charlotte and Sophie from entering the lagoon. She could imagine Will's shocked expression in his head.

"My sister is a mermaid? Bella, you know how much she loves power. She'll go crazy for it." Will said. "She doesn't have any powers, does she? Oh God, please let her not have Rikki's…there'll be bushfires every night if she has fire power."

"We tested that today. The other girl, Charlotte, can grow plants, and Sophie can control rocks." Bella told him, clutching the phone to her cheek. She sat down on her small bed. The conversation was longer than she had expected.

"Great, so there will be earthquakes because of her." Bella was 90% sure Will was being sarcastic, so she laughed. "I'm coming over, right now."

Bella laughed again. "Will, it's more than a twenty hour drive."

"What if you and Sophie swim while I drive? You girls have to swim faster than the traffic. We can meet up by my old boatshed. It'll be, what, three hours for me and less than an hour for you two?"

Bella considered it. She really did want to see Will again, and she had been on long-distance swims before…

Bella agreed before she could really think it over. They worked out that Bella and Sophie could start swimming in two hours, so they'd both arrive around the same time.

Bella ate lunch and texted Sophie about the plan. Her and Sophie had never gotten along in the past, but now that they were both mermaids she was hoping to change that. She hated not being on good terms with her boyfriend's family. If Sophie would give her a chance, Bella could do the same.

Sophie agreed to the plan and they started swimming on schedule. Sophie was quite a fast swimmer, despite the fact that she had only been a mermaid for a day. She kept up with Bella really well and the girls swam to the Gold Coast easily. She wasn't even tired.

They surfaced, Sophie's red hair pushed back from her face. Bella wondered what color her hair had been before she dyed it. There were a lot of little things about Sophie Bella had never taken the time to notice; now she could.

"The boatshed is this way." Sophie said. Bella nodded and they dived back under.

Will was sitting on the dock, waiting for them and studying something. He knew Sophie was a mermaid but that didn't stop him from looking shocked at seeing her in a tail. Sophie grinned from ear to ear.

"Soph…wow!" was all Will could say. "I'll get some towels."

Will helped the girls dry off and poured them some lemonade back in the boatshed (with straws, of course). They filled Sophie in on a lot of things she hadn't understood before. Now she knew why Will wouldn't dive for the coach she had flown in, because Bella was in the pool, and how Rikki saved Will during the diving competition.

Bella noticed Sophie's angry expression when Rikki was mentioned, and realized that she still held a grudge against Bella's blonde friend. Some rifts ran too deep to mend, and she had a feeling Sophie and Rikki would never be friends.

Sophie didn't seem to think being a mermaid was bad. Bella remembered when she was little and had first transformed in Ireland. The first few days she thought it was cool, until she found out that she couldn't go to pool parties, or take showers in gym class, and she had miss out on a lot of cool things to keep the secret. She was happy that Sophie was positive about it, but being a mermaid was a lot harder than it appeared.

Bella tried to tell Sophie this, but Sophie brushed off her warnings.

"I can help you train now, Will!" she told her brother with a huge smile.

Bella and Will smiled back tightly, but deep inside her Bella wondered if someone so reckless was good at keeping a secret like this—or if Sophie would be the one to expose them all.


	15. Chapter 16

**College has finally started for Rikki, Cleo, Emma, and Bella! They will be meeting new people, which of course means new drama! I'm all caught up with what I've uploaded on Wattpad so updates won't be as frequent, but I'm hoping to still update once a week or more. Anyway, let's find out how Rikki's first day of classes are going...**

Rikki carefully chose a seat in her first hour English class. Classes at the University of Cairns had finally started. She was a little nervous, because her friends weren't in many of her classes, but she was good at being alone.

Rikki was taking mostly general classes. She hadn't decided on a major yet. The obvious choice would be business, because she had managed a café for a year, but after that ordeal she'd rather try something else. Maybe geology or psychology.

She sat at the end of the third row with two empty seats next to her. Not too close to be labeled a nerd, but still close enough to hear the professor.

The professor was a middle aged lady who looked like she owned a lot of cats. Rikki spotted a picture of two fat gray cats on her desk and smiled. The professor mistakenly thought Rikki was smiling at her, and waved. So much for not being labeled a nerd, but then again she wasn't the type of girl to care about what other's thought.

A few minutes passed and most of the empty seats were filled. A laid-back surfer dude took the seat one down from her, winking at her when she looked at him. Rikki looked back down at her feet. This was no time to be thinking about boys. Not when she still wasn't over…

Zane breezed into the room, spotted Rikki, and sat right next to her. Rikki glared at him, wondering if she had somehow conjured him up just by thinking about him.

"Hey, Rikki." He said.

Rikki didn't answer. She was determined to ignore him.

The professor shuffled a few papers and began describing the class. Rikki was bored in a minute. The professor, Mrs. Mitchell, had a monotonous voice and seemed to think the students had never taken an English class before.

Rikki wished the class was more interesting, because that would make it easier to ignore Zane. His arm was so close to hers she could feel its heat. His cologne made her head spin with memories. If only he wasn't so close…

"She looks like a cat lady." Zane whispered to her. Rikki cracked a smile. They always did think on the same page.

Seeing her smile, he continued to joke around. "That's gonna be you one day."

Rikki kicked him discreetly. "Shut up."

Zane chuckled and Mrs. Mitchell looked over at them. Rikki and Zane cracked up.

Forty endless minutes later, in which Rikki and Zane played two dozen games of tic-tac-toe, the class ended. Rikki swung her bag over her shoulder, preparing to leave.

"Rikki…?" Zane asked. "I was wondering…"

Rikki rolled her eyes. She knew Zane would get like this sooner or later. He would act nice and sweet until Rikki forgave him and they would start going out again. It wasn't happening this time.

"What do you want, Zane?" she asked, immediately hostile.

"I thought maybe we should catch up, get lunch or something." He replied casually. "We've known each other for so long. We should at least try to be friends."

Rikki thought about it. Zane knew just about every secret of hers, just as well as Cleo, Bella or Emma. And Zane understood her better than any of her other friends….

"Lunch on Friday?" she was asking before she knew it.

"Sounds great." Zane grinned, his white teeth showing up nicely against his tanned skin. Why did he have to look so good when she was trying not to think of him like that?

Zane left and a group of girls walked by, talking about none other than Zane Bennett. Rikki's fist clenched and the carpet started sizzling.

Was that…jealousy?

**I've gotta admit, Zikki is my favorite 3 Do you think Rikki and Zane can sort out their trust issues and get back together? Do you think she'll be a single lady for a while? Or do you think by the end of this story she will have found someone new? Let me know by leaving a review! xx WA**


	16. Chapter 17

**I had such busy weekend! Lots of graduation parties and formal events to go to. Anyway, this is another chapter from Cleo's POV...things are about to get real interesting for Cleo in her next few chapters. This fanfic is getting LONG, I have decided how I want to end it but it'll take quite a few more chapters to be complete! So you all enjoy this chapter, and I will enjoy the nice tan I got today. Much love, thanks for reviewing and I hope the weather is as nice where you are as it is here! xx**

"Cleo, I saved you a seat." Charlotte called to her from across the study hall. Cleo crossed the room and sat next to her. It was getting easier to be friends with Charlotte.

It was her third class of the day, a biology class. Both Cleo and Charlotte were majoring in marine biology so they had many classes together. However, Charlotte was taking some art history classes while Cleo was taking a few extra speech and writing classes.

Looking at all the students around her, Cleo felt frankly underdressed. She had dressed according to the weather, in colorful printed shorts and a white and purple tank top. Everyone else was dressed for the air-conditioned classrooms. Cleo was actually shivering.

Class started, and Cleo took in every word her professor said. He was a young, twenty-something guy with shaggy brown hair and a mature but easygoing attitude.

"He's so hot!" Charlotte whispered to her halfway through a lecture. Cleo giggled and agreed. Lewis was cuter, of course, but there was nothing wrong in looking.

The professor, Mr. Carter, asked a few questions about different biospheres and Cleo answered every one about ocean life.

"He smiled at you!" Charlotte squealed in her ear. Cleo blushed.

"I just remember Lewis talking about those things." Cleo explained humbly, although some of it she had learned last year through some independent study.

The lecture went by quickly, and Mr. Carter focused a lot on marine biology. Cleo was really interested in that, especially how scientists knew less about the oceans than the moon. There were thousands of species that still weren't discovered—including Cleo herself! She wondered vaguely what sort of class mermaids would be put into. One all their own, she bet.

Mr. Carter finished by telling them what he expected them to learn from this class, and that they would be making a few trips to either the jungle surrounding Cairns or go scuba diving and explore the reef. Cleo and Charlotte exchanged worried glanced. There was no way they could risk scuba diving. But they would worry about that if it ever came up.

Cleo hung around after class for a few minutes, writing a long good morning text to Lewis, who would just be waking up.

"Did you take many biology classes at your High School?" Mr. Carter called to her from his desk. Most of the other students had left or were leaving.

"A few." She answered, gathering her things. "I studied a little on my own, too."

The teacher appraised her, as if sizing up the competition. "Seems to have paid off well. What are you majoring in, Cleo?"

Cleo was surprised he knew her name, there were so many other students in the class. "Marine biology." She approached his desk so they wouldn't have to shout across the room.

"I majored in that, too." Mr. Carter said, jumping to his feet and crossing the room. Cleo hovered at his desk while he went into a supply room and flicked on the lights.

"Come here, I want to show you something." He yelled. Cleo went obediently. The supply room appeared to be a sort of lab, with lots of aquariums, test tubes and specimens. She was immediately drawn to a huge fish tank that reminded her of her own fish tanks back home. She reached her hand out to touch the glass near a pretty butterfly fish.

"Haven't you ever heard not to tap the glass?" Mr. Carter joked, appearing behind her. "That's Lightning."

"I like giving them names, too." Cleo told him. "I had one like Lightning, but her name was Hot Stuff."

"Hot Stuff?" he laughed, a pleasant sound. He put his arm around her back and led her to the other side of the aquarium. "We just got these two today." Mr. Carter said, pointing to two bright yellow fish without touching the glass. "What would you name them?"

"I don't know…" Cleo replied sheepishly. "Sunny and Aqua?"

Mr. Carter laughed again. He still hadn't pulled his arm away. What first appeared as a friendly, teaching gesture now seemed…flirtatious. And creepy. She stepped away from him at once.

"Sunny and Aqua it is, then." He announced. "I suppose you've got to go to your next class. I won't keep you any longer. But drop by if you need any help, or want to name some fish." He winked at her. He actually _winked_ at her. Who did that in real life?

"O-okay." She stammered. "Thanks for showing me these."

When she was out of the lab, she collected her stuff and ran out the door. For some reason, she now felt dirty, like it was her fault Mr. Carter was flirting with her. If he was even flirting…but what else could a wink be classified as? Professors must've been taught that excessively touching a student could be considered a come-on. Even if the flirting wasn't intentional, it was still creepy. Cleo decided she wouldn't talk to him one-on-one ever again. She wasn't the type of girl to have a crush on one of her teachers.

But she had to admit…she sort of liked the attention. And the danger. And Mr. Carter's disheveled hair that reminded her so much of…Lewis.

Lewis. Lewis Lewis Lewis. There was no other guy for her. Even if she was the tiniest bit attracted to her teacher, that would never get in the way of her real, loving relationship. Cleo would make sure of it. After all, how hard could it be to change your emotions?

**What do you think about Mr. Carter? I actually named him after a very attractive student teacher I had last year. He was very professional of course and won't be anything like the Mr. Carter in this story. I will update soon, and don't forget to leave a review :)**


	17. Chapter 18

Emma decided that she liked college so far. There had already been enough drama to last a semester; it should be smooth sailing from here on out.

Emma was studying pre-med and getting a minor in geology. Unfortunately, she didn't have many classes with her fellow mermaids. Sophie was studying business, Charlotte and Cleo biology, Rikki was taking general classes and Bella was taking performing arts classes.

She walked into her geology classroom—five minutes early, of course—and saw that there was another man at the front of the room, along with the professor. From the back it looked like Ash, which made Emma miss him even more.

He turned around and wasn't Ash. But Emma hadn't really been expecting him. Ash was smart, but not in a math and science sort of way. She couldn't even picture him in a classroom setting.

Emma sat near the front of the room, got out her notes and checked her email until class started.

"Like I explained the first day of the term, we will be having many guest speakers in this class. I would like to introduce our first speaker of the year, Mr. Ryan Tate." The geology professor announced. Emma clapped politely with the rest of the class.

"Hey, guys." Mr. Tate said, addressing them casually. "I'll be with you for the rest of this week and a few days next week. I'm twenty-four and I graduated from here a few years ago. I work as a professional geologist, and I've traveled across Australia to study land formations and different types of rock. You can all call me Ryan."

Emma found Ryan to be a really nice guy, and a great speaker and teacher. He showed them part of his rock collection—not as nerdy as it sounded—and all of the places he had studied. Ryan had even been to Emma's old town to study the rock there.

Ryan showed them samples of all sorts of rock. Emma wasn't much interested in geology, but some of the rocks were beautiful. There were gems, half a grey rock with amethysts in the middle, and shiny black volcanic stone. And lastly…a shiny blue crystal, like sapphire.

"Can anyone tell me what type of rock this is?" He asked the small class.

"Sapphire?" a girl in the front row asked.

"Nope, not sapphire. Anyone else?"

"Blue diamond? Or a blue crystal?" a blonde boy guessed.

"Not either of those." Ryan waited for more guesses, but there weren't any.

"The truth is, I don't know, either. This crystal has different properties than any other rock I've ever seen. No other geologists I've met can explain it, either. I found this inside a volcano on the Gold Coast."

Emma froze. Was he talking about…Mako?

"I sold some of the crystals but I kept a few to study." Ryan continued in an offhand way. Emma looked more closely at the blue stone the next time he held it up. The deep blue color matched those crystal necklaces Bella, Cleo, and Rikki were wearing, and the crystals that littered the bottom of the lagoon. Emma raised her hand.

"Will you be studying the geography around here?" she asked casually. Maybe that was why he was here, to study the lagoon.

"Not really, I came as a favor to my old professor. Why do you ask?" Ryan said with a smile.

Emma shrugged. "Just wondering."

Ryan talked for a little while longer and then the regular professor took over. He gave them a reading assignment and dismissed the class.

"Excuse me? Mr. Tate?" Emma called out to Ryan as everyone else was leaving. "I was wondering if I could see your blue crystal again."

"Sure." Ryan dug it out of his bag and handed it to her. Emma held it up to the light and observed it.

"You seem pretty interested in that crystal." Ryan commented.

"I think I've seen something like it before." Emma said, almost mesmerized by the beautiful stone. She realized what she had just said and clamped her mouth shut.

"Really? Do you remember where?" Ryan asked. He was speaking calmly but Emma could tell he was very eager for her answer.

She shook her head. "No, I think it was a jewelry store or somewhere." She lied and gave the crystal back to him.

"Oh, okay." Ryan said, obviously disappointed. "Well, I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Ryan gathered a few papers and turned back to the professor. Emma mumbled a goodbye and left the room, her mind filled with questions. Did Cleo and Rikki know about this scientist? Would he be a threat to their secret?

Maybe he already was…

**So let me know what you think about Ryan's return! In the future I'm going to work on having longer chapters, as well. It's just hard for me to update frequently AND have long chapters. So if I do end up with lengthier chapters there might be more time between updates. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, they are very helpful! xx **


	18. Chapter 19

**Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in so long. My school decided to take away our computers for the summer at the last minute. It's been a few weeks but I have a new computer and I can update more frequently :)**

Bella was beginning to understand Rikki's obsession with the moon pool last year. She seemed to have the same affinity for the lagoon—maybe because she had discovered it, or maybe because she was destined to discover it's secrets.

She located the coral cave and swam through it, taking time to admire the way the sunlight shone through the cracks between the bright coral.

When Bella finally reached the lagoon she was surprised to find another mermaid already there, her long red hair flowing. Charlotte.

Charlotte was lying on her back with her head in the water. The waterfall was misting her face and drowning out the sound. She could just imagine how peaceful it was. Bella decided to leave Charlotte undisturbed.

Her turning tail caused ripples in the lagoon. Charlotte sensed the vibrations and looked over at her.

"Oh, hi." She said shyly. "I didn't realize there was someone here."

Bella smiled at her. Whatever issues the other girls had with Charlotte, Bella couldn't see the same power-hungry girl they apparently did. She was prepared to give Charlotte a chance. "I didn't want to disturb you. I can leave."

"No, you don't have to. I was just thinking."

"Mind telling me what you were thinking about?" Bella asked.

Charlotte laughed. "Oh, you know, pondering the creation of the world and all it's inhabitants. I'm just kidding. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be a mermaid again. And about karma. Do you believe in karma?"

"I suppose so." Bella shrugged. "What goes around, comes around and all that?"

"Sort of." Charlotte said, settling on a rock. Bella drifted over to join her. "Basically if you do bad things in life, eventually bad things will happen to you. And vice versa. So I was just thinking that losing my tail was my punishment for what I did to Cleo, Emma and Rikki. And I've been trying to be nicer since, so maybe getting my tail back is a reward."

"I get it." Bella said slowly. "So you were mean to them, that wasn't just their version of the story? I thought you would disagree with that."

Charlotte leaned her head back into the waterfall, plastering her straight auburn hair to her head. "No, I was pretty rude to them. At the time I thought they deserved it…and sometimes maybe they did, but that's no excuse." She explained wisely.

"They didn't give me a lot of details, just that you dated Lewis and became a mermaid." Bella told her.

"Lewis was one of the first people I met when I moved there." Charlotte started to give the story in more detail. "I really, really liked him, so when Cleo broke up with him I thought I would go for him. I didn't expect her to be mad, but she was. That made me a bit angry with her. I mean, why would you break up with someone if you still liked them?"

Bella nodded. Cleo hadn't told her that part.

"Cleo even snooped through my diary and tried to convince Lewis that I burnt my old school down." Charlotte laughed. "I was so mad, especially because Lewis still hung out with her and the others. We started dating and he still wouldn't stop spending time with them. I got really jealous and I didn't understand it until I was a mermaid. Then I tried to be friends with them, but they resented me for having their powers. And I'll admit, I thought I was better than them because I was more powerful. I held it over their heads. I definitely did my fair share of mean things. I made them fight and then locked Cleo and Emma in a closet during Lewis' birthday party. Gosh, I was horrible…"

The reminiscing seemed to make Charlotte really sad. Bella truly believed Charlotte was sorry for the things she'd done. But now she knew Cleo, Rikki and Emma weren't so innocent, either. They had all grown up a lot and could probably put all that behind them. Bella would help with that, too. She would help Charlotte feel accepted by their group so they could avoid any future conflicts.

"Do you want to check out that cave with me?" Bella asked, her gaze drifting to the waterfall and what lay behind it. "I want to see where it ends."

"Sure. Let's dry off and try to get through." Charlotte said, putting her arm through the waterfall. They both swam to the edge of the lagoon. It was a hot, sunny day so in less than ten minutes both girls had their legs again.

Bella led Charlotte to the land entrance and they both fell down. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cave. When they did, Bella and Charlotte took off to explore the other side of the cave, away from the waterfall. Occasionally there were holes in the cave ceiling so they could see where they were going.

Charlotte and Bella had just finished talking about the last season of Home and Away when Charlotte abruptly stopped walking.

"Do you see that?" she asked, peering ahead into the darkness. Bella couldn't see a thing.

The girls walked a few more meters and Bella could see it: an eerie blue light ahead. She quickened her pace, feeling drawn to the glow.

When she got closer Bella realized it was a crystal. A massive blue crystal that seemed to be lit from within. She reached out to touch it but felt it's power and her hand backed away instinctively. Power like this was amazing, but dangerous.

Charlotte approached and reached out her hand the same way. She flinched and pulled it away quickly.

Bella studied the area around this giant crystal. It was a larger section of cave, with rock walls and a pebble floor. Amongst the pebbles were smaller pieces of blue crystal. There appeared to be enough room around the big crystal for someone to walk around it without touching either the wall or the magical rock.

"We should go back now and tell the others about this." Charlotte suggested, continuing to put her hand close to the crystal and then pulling it away when the power was too much.

"I guess." Bella replied, staring at the ground. She didn't really want to leave, but it was getting late.

The ground suddenly gave her an idea. She grabbed a handful of pebbles and picked out three good-sized crystals.

"Do you want me to make you a necklace?" she asked Charlotte, showing her the sparkling blue rocks. "Like mine."

Bella pointed the the crystal necklace around her neck as an example. Charlotte looked flattered.

"Sure, if it isn't too much trouble...I noticed you, Rikki and Cleo had one. Maybe Sophie and Emma would like one, too?"

Charlotte helped Bella find a few other crystals-she would need options, just in case some were too big or too small. They gathered a small handful each and started the long walk back to the waterfall.

Bella and Charlotte swam back to shore together, doing underwater tricks and showing each other beautiful marine life. Bella wasn't afraid of her friends' former enemy, not one bit.

In fact, Charlotte could easily become one of her best friends.

**Review if you have any suggestions, comments, praise, criticism, whatever. I like reading your thoughts. XX**


	19. Chapter 20

**We have a Zikki chapter! They are my favorite couple, although they are not a couple in this story. I tried to use a bit more Aussie language in this chapter to make it sound more authentic. Anyway, I hope you like it fellow Zikki lovers xx**

Rikki sat on the bench outside of her dorm room, waiting impatiently. Uni was flying by. It was already noon on Friday, and the time that Zane was supposed to be meeting her for lunch. But, typical Zane, he was already ten minutes late.

His lack of punctuality was just one of the many reasons Zane Bennett was bad for her. He was arrogant, stubborn, possessive...she had to keep reminding herself of those qualities. This lunch "date" would not turn into herself and Zane "dating". Oh, why had she said yes?

Maybe he was late because he was with another girl. She had already seen him with two, after barely a week on campus. She planned to ask him about them-maybe he already was seeing someone else, and he truly just wanted to catch up. Yes, that could be it.

Or maybe not.

Zane showed up five minutes later, wearing a plain black shirt and jeans. She could smell the cologne she'd given him last Christmas and smiled despite herself.

"I'm sorry I'm late, my roommate is a complete neat freak and packed all my stuff away himself." he said and rolled his eyes.

"Let's just go." Rikki said. She wasn't really annoyed anymore, but hunger was an emotion all it's own.

Rikki got into his car, breathing in the familiar smell and feeling the soft leather of the seats.

"Are you in the mood for Chinese or seafood?" Zane asked, starting the car. "I could even go for Italian if you want."

Zane hated Italian so it was nice that he offered. "I heard the Beach Hut has really good seafood. It's ten minutes that way."

Zane drove according to Rikki's directions and they got to the restaurant quickly. The place was extremely busy but they managed to get a small table for two on the back deck, right in the sun. Zane chatted away easily about his new friends and some of his old ones. Rikki knew that Zane stopped talking to a lot of his old friends, the ones who were only interested in partying and girls, like Nate. His new friends sounded nice.

Their food arrived while Rikki was talking about her roommate, Tasha, and how she had stayed up all night Skyping her boyfriend who lived in the building right next to theirs. She stopped talking to eat. Wow, was she hungry.

Rikki and Zane ate in silence for awhile. The food was delicious. Zane ordered crab and Rikki got fish and chips.

"Rikki," Zane said seriously, putting down a crab leg. "I just want to say that I'm sorry."

"What for?" she asked, squeezing ketchup onto her chips.

"You know. For kissing Sophie, and being a jerk. I've thought about it a lot and I know it was my fault...the Moon Pool, our break-up, even the café going under...all of it was my fault. I realize that now."

Rikki, usually sarcastic and casual, mimicked Zane's serious attitude. "You should've apologized months ago. You ruined so many good things, for me and yourself. You can't just expect me to forgive you."

"I don't." he shook his head earnestly. "I know it'll take a lot of time. But I've changed a lot-"

"That doesn't mean I should give you a second chance!" Rikki cut him off, getting angry. "We are not getting back together, okay? So if that was what this lunch was for then it was pointless."

Zane opened his mouth to reply, thought better of it, and went back to eating. Rikki was full but still angry. They finished their meals in silence. Rikki wished Zane never brought up what happened last year. Why couldn't they have a nice, easygoing conversation without Zane bringing up their relationship? She wanted to be friends but he wasn't making it easy.

Rikki gave Zane money to cover her share of lunch and let him go up to pay. She hoped he would come back and not still have that serious face, but unfortunately he did.

When they were back in his car Zane attempted to talk to her again.

"Just so you know, I'm not trying to get back with you." he told her.

Rikki rolled her eyes. She wasn't falling for that. Zane laughed at her expression.

"Seriously, I'm not. I would like to but I know you don't want that. I'm actually trying to move on. It's more difficult than I thought it would be."

Rikki wasn't sure why he was telling her this, but couldn't help but be interested in his love life.

"Why don't you just date Sophie? She's here, too. And now we have more in common than before..." Rikki muttered.

"What?" Zane asked, confused.

She sighed and explained that Sophie was a mermaid. Zane didn't believe it at first, but Rikki told him about the lagoon and how Charlotte brought Sophie there. His jaw had dropped five times by the end of the story.

"So anyway, now you found someone just like me. Go for it." she finished.

"Rikki...you're way better than Sophie. I don't even know why I kissed her, it was dumb. So again, I'm sorry. But I've really missed you...and if I can't have you as a girlfriend, then I would at least like to be friends. You're the only one who gets me." Zane said honestly. He still hadn't started the car. Rikki was worried it was going to be a long, awkward drive back to campus.

"Would you just drive already?" she snapped. But in her mind, she was considering Zane's proposal. They could be friends...after all, Zane knew more about her than almost everyone else.

She thought about it more while Zane listened to footy on the radio. Zane drove straight to her dorm and dropped her off.

Before he drove away, Rikki turned back to him. "I'd like to be friends, too."

**So what do you think about Rikki and Zane being "friends"? Do you think it can work out or nah? Also, I'm thinking about changing the name of this story. It's one of my firsts so I didn't know how many fanfics are named "Season 4" and I'm worried that is making people not want to read it. So watch out for a name change! I haven't thought of anything yet so if you have any suggestions for one, that would be lovely. Next chapter will be up soon, and thanks for reading!**


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